Last Day in the Vermont Mountains

The gondola here at Stowe, with a winter wonderland behind.

Well I certainly can't complain about this winter, here in Stowe, Vermont. For all the skiers and snowboarders, it has been a winter consistent snow and below freezing temps that have opened up just about every trail and glade that you can do on the mountain. I took advantage of having the epic ski pass for Stowe, and clocked 45 days, 199 lifts ridden, and over 300,000 vertical feet on my snowboard. I entered the trees and glades for the first time ever, and had multiple weekends with my entire family on the slopes. I explored more over on the Spruce Mountain side, and avoided any injuries. I watched my three year old go from stepping into skis for the first time, to getting off the lift and heading down an entire run, all on her own. My five year old showed me a new trail through the woods, and my seven year old improved her turns and headed off to ski with her friends several times. All three got to ski with their schools, which is so Vermont.

With all the snow, the landscapes were also just beautiful. I can't recall how many times I said or heard the phrase, "winter wonderland", this winter. There is just something so cozy about these cute New England town, blanketed in snow. It also gave my kids a chance to build some incredible snow forts in the front yard, as well as a proper snowman. And to top things off, I had several visits from a beautiful barred owl. Our house is surrounded by forest, and every once in a while we get lucky with wildlife visits.

I imagine that Stowe will have quite a bit more winter and snow to come, however I am out to Hawaii. I'll work for a month onboard my expedition cruise ship, then spend April in Maui with the family. Here's hoping for lots of whales and Hawaii adventures to come!

On top of the quad at Stowe Mountain Resort. The air was crisp and clear and the lighting was very nice in the mid afternoon, lighting up mountains almost all the way to New Hampshire in the distance.

Riding up the adventure triple, looking back at Spruce Lodge with the big mountain in the background.

The snow just kept coming this morning. I did some exploring up the Sensation Quad lift, which I had only ridden once before. I believe this trail was called Upper Smuggs. It was definitely a black diamond, but had a very cool view on the way down.

Another mid-afternoon picture from the top of the quad.

Heading down the expert terrain of Upper Smuggs.

Everything is backwards here as my selfie camera reflected one of my favorite views on a sharp turn on Nosedive.

After getting a little frostbite on my nose I had to start covering up a bit more from the elements.

I havn't eaten here yet, but it is pretty cool that there is a restaurant at the very top of the gondola at Stowe.

Pure winter magic here at Stowe. You can see the Cliff House at the very top of the slopes, sitting around 3,500ft high. This is what dreamy East coast skiing can look like.

The snow is falling and I'm ready!

Shadow play with Catalina, a waving Fisher, and me.

It was a busy winter-break week here in Stowe, but even with the influx of visitors, the lines weren't that bad.

It is hard not to stop along the way and take photos like these.

A hidden cabin in the woods, up in the Vermont mountains.

A low break in the clouds gave a view through that famous Smugglers Notch of Vermont.

My snowboarding stats for the winter. I road the lifts at stowe almost 200 times! And broke 300,000 vertical feet on my last day. It was a good december and then an incredible February. I spent more time in snowboarding in the woods this winter than ever before.

I see people taking instagram selfies here all the time, so I snapped this picture out of the car window on my way to pick up my daughter from school.